Earnings call transcript: Becton Dickinson Q2 2026 beats earnings expectations

Becton Dickinson (BDX) reported its Q2 2026 earnings, surpassing analyst expectations with an adjusted EPS of $2.90, compared to the forecasted $2.78. The revenue reached $4.7 billion, slightly above the anticipated $4.67 billion. Following the announcement, the stock rose by 3.9% in pre-market trading, reflecting investor optimism.

Becton Dickinson demonstrated robust performance in Q2 2026, with revenue increasing by 2.6% on a currency-neutral basis. The company maintained a strong growth trajectory in its biologic drug delivery and advanced patient monitoring segments, contributing to a positive outlook for the remainder of the fiscal year. Despite challenges in certain markets, such as China, the company’s diversified portfolio allowed it to capitalize on growth opportunities in key areas.

Becton Dickinson exceeded expectations with an EPS of $2.90 against the forecasted $2.78, marking a surprise of 4.32%. Revenue also slightly surpassed estimates, coming in at $4.7 billion compared to the expected $4.67 billion. This performance indicates the company’s resilience and effective cost management amid global economic challenges.

Following the earnings announcement, Becton Dickinson’s stock price rose by 3.9% in pre-market trading, reaching $149.63. This positive movement reflects investor confidence in the company’s ability to deliver strong financial results and maintain growth momentum. The stock’s performance is notable against its 52-week range, showcasing a recovery from previous lows.

The stock currently trades at a P/E ratio of 23.67 with a market capitalization of $42.96 billion. According to InvestingPro analysis, BDX appears undervalued at current levels, suggesting potential upside for investors. The company maintains a dividend yield of 2.9% and has raised its dividend for 55 consecutive years—a testament to financial stability. For comprehensive valuation insights on BDX and other healthcare stocks, visit the most undervalued stocks list.

Becton Dickinson raised its full-year EPS guidance to a range of $12.52-$12.72, signaling confidence in its operational strategies and market positioning. The company expects low single-digit revenue growth for the full year, with a similar performance anticipated in the second half. Strategic initiatives in biologic drug delivery and patient monitoring are expected to drive future growth.

InvestingPro rates BDX’s overall financial health as "GOOD" with a score of 2.77, while the company maintains a manageable debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Investors seeking deeper analysis can access BDX’s comprehensive Pro Research Report, one of 1,400+ available reports that transform complex Wall Street data into clear, actionable intelligence. The platform offers additional ProTips and advanced metrics to help investors make smarter decisions.

CEO Tom Polen highlighted the company’s strategic focus on innovation and market expansion: "Our strong performance in biologic drug delivery and patient monitoring underscores our commitment to advancing healthcare solutions that meet the evolving needs of patients and providers worldwide."

During the earnings call, analysts inquired about the potential impact of tariffs on future profitability and the company’s strategies to mitigate these effects. Executives emphasized ongoing efforts to optimize supply chains and enhance operational efficiencies to counteract these challenges.

Operator: Welcome to BD’s second fiscal quarter 2026 earnings call. At the request of BD, today’s call is being recorded and will be available for replay on BD’s investor relations website, investors.bd.com, or by phone at 800-688-9445 for domestic calls and 1-402-220-1371 for international calls. For today’s call, all parties have been placed in a listen-only mode until the question and answer session. I will now turn the call over to Shawn Bevec, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Shawn Bevec, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations, BD: Good morning, and welcome to BD’s earnings call. I’m Shawn Bevec, Senior Vice President of Investor Relations. Thank you for joining us. This call is being made available via audio webcast at bd.com. Earlier this morning, BD released its results for the second quarter of fiscal 2026. The press release and presentation can be accessed on the IR website at investors.bd.com. Leading today’s call are Tom Polen, BD’s Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and President, and Vitor Roque, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Before we get started, I want to remind you that we will be making forward-looking statements. You can read the disclaimer in our earnings release and the disclosures in our SEC filings on our investor relations website. Unless otherwise specified, all comparisons will be made on a year-on-year basis versus the relevant fiscal period.

Revenue percentage changes are on an FX neutral basis unless otherwise noted. Also, references to adjusted EPS refer to adjusted diluted EPS. The financials discussed here and included in the earnings release and 10-Q are presented on a continuing operations basis. Prior periods have been recast to reflect the spin-off of our life sciences business in combination with Waters, which is now accounted for as discontinued operations. Reconciliations between GAAP and non-GAAP measures are included in the appendices of the earnings release and presentation. With that, I will turn it over to Tom.

Joanna Vuong, Analyst, Citibank0: Thank you, Shawn. Good morning, everyone. Before turning to Q2 results, I wanted to take a moment to highlight this morning our announcement of Vitor Roque as CFO. As you know, Vitor has been interim CFO since last fall and has done a fantastic job serving as a partner to me and the leadership team. Since he stepped into the role, we’ve delivered 2 solid quarters of performance and closed our transaction with Waters ahead of schedule, enabling us to fully initiate our new BD strategy while also enhancing our capital allocation strategy. In partnership with a leading executive search firm, management and the board ran a comprehensive process that evaluated a broad range of external candidates in addition to Vitor. Our goal is to identify the best candidate to lead BD’s finance function.

We were focused on identifying a CFO with a demonstrated ability to lead sophisticated finance organizations in complex operating environments, deep understanding of our markets and value creation model, and a strong track record of driving strategic, operational, and financial performance. As we worked through the process, it became clear that our best talent was already within the organization with Vitor. With 25 years at BD across our businesses, regions, and segments, he brings the experience and perspective to translate strategy into results, drive consistent execution, and create long-term shareholder value. I look forward to working closely with Vitor as we continue to execute on our strategy. Turning now to our Q2 results. We delivered a solid second quarter with revenue, adjusted margins, and adjusted EPS all ahead of our expectations.

More importantly, performance reflected broad-based execution, with more than 90% of the portfolio delivering mid-single-digit growth and tangible progress in operational innovation and commercial performance through BD Excellence. Reflecting our first half performance and improved visibility into the remainder of the year, we are raising our full-year adjusted EPS guidance. This gives us confidence that the new BD strategy is delivering through a dynamic environment. Revenue was $4.7 billion, up 2.6%. As I’ve discussed, we’ve been focused on building multiple scaled growth platforms that sit at the center of secular trends that are driving the future of healthcare. It is in these areas where we’re focusing on enhancing our commercial execution and driving product innovation. During the second quarter, we delivered double-digit growth across these key growth platforms, including biologic drug delivery, advanced patient monitoring, PureWick, and advanced tissue regeneration.

We also delivered mid to high single-digit growth in oncology, peripheral arterial disease, and Rowa pharmacy automation. As you can see, these platforms are scaling. They’re outpacing the broader portfolio and are becoming a more meaningful driver of our long-term growth profile. As expected, results were partially offset by focused pressure in Alaris, vaccines in China. We’ve been clear about these factors, which represent less than 10% of revenue, and we’re managing them with discipline. We delivered adjusted operating margin of 24.2% and adjusted EPS of $2.90, reflecting strong operational execution through BD Excellence and the high quality of our revenue performance. Taken together, the quarter demonstrates the increasing quality, breadth, and resilience of New BD. We’re executing against 3 priorities that define how we’re building New BD: compete, innovate, and deliver.

By expanding BD Excellence into commercial and R&D, we’re building a stronger operating system, one that strengthens our competitive position, accelerates innovation in attractive markets, and improves the earnings and cash-generating power of the company over time. Starting with compete, we’re raising the bar on commercial execution with greater rigor, faster decision-making, and more disciplined use of data. In Q2, those actions translated into measurable share gains and customer conversions across several key platforms. A few to highlight. Within connected care, APM continued to grow above market, driven by strong HemoSphere Alta adoption and a nearly 20% increase in Smart Recovery consumables demand. With incremental sales force hiring largely complete, we’re well-positioned in the back half of the year. In Alaris, we drove share gains of approximately 50 basis points in the quarter and roughly 150 basis points year to date, with momentu